Tweek's Story: Drabbles
by Are You Afraid of the Dark
Summary: AU  Tweek can't share his parent's Enthusiasm about their new Summer home. The place is downright creepy. Things move on their own, and if you listen closely, you might hear the voices of South Park's lost children, calling for someone to save them...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Ok, all of the rest of my chapter stories are, for now, on hiatus until my teachers decide that senior I may be, but home work machine I am not. This story, is, of course, made of chapters, but the chapters will be short one shot-ish, instead of my usual six page minimum limit. (I've seen it done before, and figured that it would make updating a lot easier for me, since I suck at it so much XD) It will make it easier for me to write in class, since I have little to no free time this year ( DX ), and it will make for faster and easier updates….every day if not every other day, as long as circumstances permit, though this is honestly more of a boredom killer/practice for my English essays type thing than an actual fic, so suckage is to be expected.**

**However, I think that with this I will be doing something a little different. If/When someone reviews, I would like to know if they would like for this to be a Tweek/Craig story, or a Tweek/Clyde story. NOTE THAT ONE OF THEM WILL NOT HAVE A HAPPY ENDING! Which ever pairing gets the most votes by the time I start actually writing in the pairing will be the one I use.**

**Now that I've put in my extra long A/N, time to get on with the first chapter.**

**Chapter one: New Home**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date: 10/2/07**

Tweek wouldn't call himself a coward, per say. He just had a strong sense of self preservation.

Well, ok, that, and he was kind of paranoid.

Alright, fine! He was _very_ paranoid, but what's the point in splitting hairs?

He was also a firm believer in Murphy's Law. If it _can_ go wrong, it _will_ go wrong, and there isn't anything you could do about it, that was his life's motto.

Not that his family had had bad luck by any means, of course. After all, they _were_ the owners of one of the largest coffee chains in the country. They had plenty of money to spare, and, as the icing on the cake, an old aunt or something had just kicked the bucket and left her entire estate to her closest relatives (in the biological sense of the word.)

In other words, them.

No, Tweek's life was anything but bad. In fact, most people would have killed to have his life. But Tweek was Tweek. He was jittery and completely untrusting of anyone, everyone and anything.

Which is why his parents' new summer home was just not as exciting for him as it seemed to be for his mom and dad.

"Just look at it dear!" His mother exclaimed, her soft voice brimming with pride as she strode up next to him on the curving front walk. He stood there, silent and grim faced, twitching habitually every few seconds, looking up at the house distrustfully. It _was_ a nice house, that much he had to admit, a beautiful, sprawling Victorian mansion. But it was so…so….

"Big." He said simply. "It's-ngh- really big." He glanced over at her beaming face. "What if we get lost?" If they got lost in there, it could be days until they were found. They could starve to death. Just the thought made him sick. He shifted his grip on the rather large suitcases in each hand, the leather handles sliding annoyingly in his sweaty grip.

His mother laughed in her soft, calm way and shook her head.

"Oh Tweek, it's not _that_ big." She chimed a bit patronizingly as she pulled a bag of her own from the trunk of the family Suburban. "It would only take you a few hours to explore it all." Her son silently disagreed. Anything was possible. What if one of them got locked in the attic or something with no key and no one heard their screams for help?

"Well, come on son, don't just stand there gawking at it." His father intoned, pushing past him with an arm load of bags that should logically have blocked everything in front of him from his view. "Help us move some of this stuff inside before it gets dark."

Tweek made a face and hefted his bags once again to keep them from slipping. He stood still for a few more seconds, casting another unsettled look up at what was to be his new home for the next two and a half months. The place just didn't have a good vibe to it. Not like their own house. Not like some of the other houses they had been in. This one…

…This one felt like it was giving _him_ the same look _he _was giving _it_, only quite a bit more menacingly. He didn't like the feeling.

Not one little bit.

It didn't help that the place looked like it was straight out of a horror film, with the peeling white paint, broken shutters, curtained windows and an empty, hungry look.

"Tweek! Come on, while we're still young!"

Taking a deep breath and squaring his narrow, quaking shoulders, Tweek Tweak headed down the drive to the large wrap around porch, praying to whatever God happened to be listening in at the time that he was just being paranoid, as usual, and that the sneaking, cold feeling in his gut that usually meant that something was going to go horribly wrong was once again all in his head.

_"This summer is going to be hell._" he thought as a sudden squeak form a lose floorboard nearly gave him a heart attack.


	2. Chapter 2

**The First few chapters are just Tweek getting acquainted with the house and me working on my description, so they'll be boring. Sorry ;**

**Chapter two: Room**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date: 10/2/07**

The entrance hall was huge.

No, it was huger than huge; it was monstrous! The inside of the house seemed to be paneled completely in a dark, rich, red-brown wood his father identified as mahogany, while the wooden furniture had a more reddish cast to them. _They_ were made of cherry wood, he was told. The Persian rug on the floor was primarily a dark forest green with swirls and exotic patterns of gold and scarlet woven intricately into it. Tweek stood on the stoop, looking through the door which, he thought, _had_ to be more than wide enough for them to drive their car through. The ceiling it's self was high enough to give him vertigo.

It was very big, and very cold. Actually, Tweek personally thought it was colder on the inside than the outside could have ever hoped to be.

"Come along Tweek." His mother called to him from the next room. Stepping cautiously through the cavernous mouth of an entrance, he shuffled through the hall and into the large, open foyer. The petit young woman was already halfway up the massive flight of stairs at the other end of the room, headed up to the second floor. Tweek hurried after her as fast as his heavy bag would let him, his sneakers and jean hems making soft _shwuffing_ noises as they shuffled against the thick scarlet carpet. Every few steps or so, the brown suitcase would knock against his leg with gentle slapping noises. Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, he took a moment to look up the three flights.

The house was truly large, with three floors, a basement and an attic. It was why his parents had immediately jumped at the chance to use the place as a summer home. Lots of storage and, lets face it, when you live in a large, gorgeous (no matter how much fixing up it needs) old house that you didn't have to pay a dime for, it really does make you feel…special, to put it mildly.

Godlike, to put it accurately.

Unless you were Tweek, of course.

Tweek was uneasy and vaguely depressed.

"And here is _your_ room, dear." His mother chimed, opening the heavy wooden door to the immediate left of the second story landing. She and her husband had already been to the house several times, mostly to evaluate the property and sort out some legal issues with the other relatives who had been left trinkets and other items in the old woman's will. Tweek was slightly annoyed with the fact that they had picked his room for him, without him even being there, but he didn't argue. It was just a room, after all, and he wasn't planning on staying in the creepy, large, _potentially dangerous_ old house any longer than he absolutely had to.

He dropped his bags to the hardwood floor with a solid _thunk!_ It really was a nice room, he had to admit grudgingly. It had a large window that faced out into the front yard, giving him an excellent view of the long white gravel drive, lined with tall, looming cedar trees and the lush green lawn. The room it's self was all in dark stained wood, some kind of walnut, maybe, if he had to guess. Bookshelves lined one wall above an old-fashioned hardwood desk of the same color and material as the floor and walls. On the opposite wall was a large four-poster bed, also old-fashioned and complete with drapes and comforter, both in the same rich scarlet as the carpeting on the hall and stairs. Not exactly the most comforting of colors, he noted wryly. If anything, it made him feel like he should stand up straighter.

"Mom-" He stared, turning around, only to find himself alone in the room. He let out a startled squeak, nearly tripping over his luggage in his attempt to get out of the room.

-----------------


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three: South Park**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date:**

The house wasn't the only large thing his family had inherited, he soon learned. The house it's self sat on a large piece of property overlooking a nearby river. The way his mother had explained it to him (as he had been trailing her constantly around the house as she cleaned and unpacked), The house and property had been in her family for years, dating back to the eighteen hundreds, even. She added, however, that she was going by word of mouth only, as she had yet to find the time to do any kind of research on the matter.

"Tweek, dear, if you're so interested, why don't you go look yourself? It's a lovely day outside after all." She said finally, exasperated, after he had tread on her foot for the third time. He flinched away at her tone, and her face immediately turned apologetic.

"Dear, you're jumpier than usual, and all things considered, that just can't be good for you…or for me." She added the last part under her breath, but he heard her anyway. He flinched again, feeling guilty. She didn't seem to notice and continued, pushing him gently down the hall and out of the kitchen, where she had been arranging pots and pans. "Some fresh air will do you some good." They reached the back door, which Tweek hadn't actually known about before. His mother leaned around him and opened the ornate, light blue and white painted door, effectively cutting off his escape routs without being obvious about it.

He had to give her points for knowing him well enough to plan ahead like that.

"Now, you run along." She told him, pushing open the storm door for him as well and placing a hand on his back firmly. "I'll have dinner ready around six thirty, so come back a few minuets before so you can wash up, ok? And don't get lost."

"Lost?! Oh sweet Jesus, I could get _lost_ out there?!" He yelped, craning his neck back as far as possible to look at her. She winced at her word slip. His eyes were wider than usual, the dark circles under them standing out starkly as his perpetually pale face drained of any color it might have possessed. His lower lip trembled.

"Well, the property _is_ large, but it's mostly fields, so you'll be able to see the house at all times, anyway." She amended. "Just don't go to far into the trees and you'll be fine. No _go_." and, that said, she gave him one final, firm shove out the door.

Tweek stood for a moment, swallowing a brief wave of panic, forcing himself to stand still and not go running back for the door. His mother had a lot of work to do, and he was sure that he was just getting in the way. He had a habit of doing that.

He shivered in the cold Colorado air, thankful that he hadn't removed his heavy coat when they had arrived at the house. With his almost nonexistent body mass, he was sure it wouldn't be hard for him to catch phenomena or something and die. He was used to the slightly warmer, less snowy climate of Denver, after all.

He glanced back at the house. Through the small box window over looking the sink, he watched his father slip up behind his mother, wrapping his arms around her waist. She giggled soundlessly, turning halfway in his father's arms and batting at his shoulders. It was like watching some strange pantomime, this silent play going on before him, and for a moment he could only watch as his mother and father leaned in together and kissed.

Then he snapped out of it and decided that the really didn't want to watch whatever they were going to do next. Stuffing his hands into his pocket to keep them warm, he headed off the porch, making up his mind to head down to the small town at the bottom of the large, swooping hill the house was perched on.

South Park, he believed was the name.

He'd never heard of it before, but, compared to Denver, it promised to be small, quiet, and all around dull.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Newton's Third Law**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date:**

Newton's third law of motion; a moving object will continue to move unless acted upon by an outside force.

In this case the moving object was a rather distracted Tweek, coffee latte in one hand and a glazed look in his eyes, paying absolutely no mind to where he was going.

The outside force were two boys a couple of years his seniors, headed in the opposite direction and paying about as much attention to their path as Tweek himself.

It only stood to reason that they collided. Tweek hit the ground with a shriek, his coffee slipping from his grasp and spilling in a dark steaming puddle all over the concrete. The two boys, sturdier built and taller, simply stumbled back a bit, confused.

"Hey dude, watch where you're going." The huskier of the two said, though his voice held no malice, only bored amusement. Tweek started slightly at being addressed and only just caught his yelp in time. It ended up a strangled gagging noise. The accusation, while not a serious one, still made Tweek bristle slightly.

"Ahg! Y-You were the one who walked into me." He squeaked out, his voice tight. The husky-guy raised an eyebrow.

"That's not the way we see it." He said as his companion, a clean cut, tall African-American, rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. The husky guy took a step toward Tweek, who squeaked again and backed up, his jeans making a rough scraping noise against the sidewalk. The guy looked him up and down. Tweek took a deep breath, feeling heat rise to his cheeks at the scrutiny. "Who dressed you, a blind guy?" Husky-guy added snidely, his gaze lingering on the miss-buttoned buttons on the blonde's jacket. Tweek's face flushed brilliantly in embarrassment.

"Leave the kid alone, Clyde." The black guy said, elbowing his companion in the arm. Tweek made a slight noise of protest at the 'kid' comment, but remained otherwise silent. The two in front of him didn't seem to notice.

"Lighten up, dude, I was just picking." Husky-guy-Clyde- complained with a pout as the black guy held out a hand to Tweek.

"Hey sorry about him." He said kindly to the twitchy blond now staring at his hand like it was about to bite him. "He's an asshole." He laughed at the indignant 'hey!' from his friend. "It was our fault. We were probably taking up the whole sidewalk or something, and not looking where we were going."

Tweek blinked. This guy didn't seem so bad. At least he wasn't teasing him like his friend. He took a deep breath and, in a moment of courage (who knew where that guy's hands had been?) accepted the offer of help and allowed himself to be pulled back up to his feet.

"Ahg! N-no, it's my fault." He conceded "I wasn't looking where I was going anyway!" The guy laughed.

"Let's just say it was no one's fault and cut our losses." He suggested. Tweek gave him a weak smile. "This is Clyde, by the way, and my name's Token." He continued, gesturing first to his friend, who's name Tweek already knew, and then to himself. "I've never seen you in town before. You new?" Tweek nodded.

"Yeah…Ngh! We -my parents and I- just got here today." He said, bending down to pick up his new discarded coffee cup and throw it in a nearby trash can.

"Hey dude, sorry about your coffee." Clyde told him, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets and flashing him an amiable smile. Tweek shrugged indifferently, though he was already making plans to go and get himself some more.

"I can always go and get myself another cup." he said tightly. He didn't really care much for this Craig Guy, though he usually tried not to go by first impressions. He felt his eye twitch randomly a couple of times. The two in front of him glanced at each other.

"You…ok?" Token asked unsurely, giving him an odd look. Tweek blinked.

"Ahg! Yeah." He said, puzzled.

"You sure, kid? Cuse it looks like you've got a bit of a tick…" Tweek's eyes widened in panic.

"WHAT?!" He shrieked. "Like the bug?! Oh sweet Jesus get it off of me!" He began to wildly bat at his clothes and hair while the other two looked on with alarm. "I'm going to get lime disease! I'm going to die a horrible, painful death!" By now he was attracting quite a crowd of curious onlookers and Token and Clyde looked like they were considering calling the police…or the loony bin.

"No, No! I meant like, your eye is twitching!" Token corrected himself, his voice alarmed. Tweek paused.

"Ahg! Well, why didn't you just say so?" he squeaked, embarrassed. "That happens all the t-time."

"……..Oh." Token looked, for the most part, at a loss for words.

"Well, we'll catch you around then, kid." Clyde added as both he and Token edged around him and hurried off. Tweek sighed, translating those words into the way he was sure they had actually been meant.

_"We're going to avoid you like a plague, and if we __**do**__ run into you, we will be stiffly polite and run the other way as soon as possible._

Yeah, Tweek had a slight problem making friends. He weirded most people out with his paranoia and tweaking. It was just something he was used to. He figured he would have more friends if he made it known that his family was, in all actuality, loaded, but most people didn't make the connection between the little twitching weirdo and the infamous Tweak family that had pretty much monopolized the coffee market. He didn't bother to help with the analogy. He just didn't see the point. After all, they would only be tolerating him, not likeing him, right? Or did he just watch to many meaningful cartoons with life lessons hidden not-so-cleverly in the plot line?

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he shuffled down the street, looking for a coffee shop. When he found one, he was kind of amused and slightly sickened to see that it was a branch of Tweak Bros. and that it seemed to be one of the busiest shops in the square.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Small Town**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date:**

Tweek looked up at his "new" front door, new, steaming cup of coffee in hand. All in all, he had been right about South Park. It was small and there wasn't really a lot to do. What's more, unlike in Denver, Everyone there seemed to know everyone else, or they were related in someway or another. Just walking down the street, it felt to Tweek like he was entering a whole other universe. People would stop to say hi to one another and ask various personal questions;

'How's the family?'

'You cough clearing up yet?'

'The ol' Shrew at ya again?'

'You coming to Church this Sunday?'

It made Poor Tweek feel more alone than ever. This really was a strange little town, where everyone knew each other and he was just a passing, out of place stranger.

It was depressing.

……….

Oh well, nothing he could do about it.

Tweek tipped back a good long gulp of his Irish Crème, taking comfort in the hot burn that slid it's way down his throat. It was only for Two and a half months, he thought as he turned the freezing metal knob. Two and a half months and they would be back home in the their coffee shop-house combo, with it's nice, bland paisley colors and warm coffee smell.

And its summer weather. Couldn't forget about that…After all, it wasn't summer without weather above thirty-two.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Parents**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date: 10/13/07**

"Oh, Tweek, your home." His mothers voice floated from the kitchen, starling him.

"Gah!"

"Good, hang up your coat and come in here please."

The house was warmer now, and filled with the rich, warm scents of fresh brewed coffee and his mothers cooking. It made the old place seem more familiar, homier, less foreboding.

Not comfortable, of course, but livable, maybe.

Tweek rubbed his cold numbed hands together. He wished he had put on his mittens when the temperature had dropped on the trip up the mountain, and vowed to dig them out of his luggage as soon as humanly possible. Once some feeling returned to his skin, he deemed it warm enough to peel off his jacket and attempt to hang it on the stern, old fashioned coat rack by the door.

After several shaky attempts and no luck at properly hitting the stand's hooks, he finally gave up and slung it over the seat of a chair backed against the wall.

"You-ah- wanted to see me?" He asked, poking his head around the doorway.

His mother was bustling about the airy tile room, pot simmering on the stove, the oven admitting a savory, earthy scent. The coffee pot had already been plugged in the far corner and was churning out a fresh batch of the steaming black liquid. His mother was humming happily; her hair was disheveled and tumbling out of its clips, and her clothes were rumpled, but she didn't seem to care.

It was his father that answered, closing the hardcover book he was reading and removing his reading glasses. He smiled gently at his son and patted the seat at the table next to him.

"So, what did you think of the town?" He asked, relaxing back in his chair as Tweek sidled cautiously into the room and slid his lanky frame gently into the seat. He shrugged as best he could as another wave of tweaks hit him.

"NGH!-was ok."

He watched as his mother an father exchanged a quick glance.

"Just ok, sweety?" His mother asked over her shoulder as she went back to chopping carrots.

"…..yeah."

"Nothing….nothing interesting? Did you meet some new people?" Tweek furrowed his brows, shivering. The house was warmer, and so was he, but at the same time, he still felt chilled.

"I met a couple of-ngh-of guys a couple of years older'n me." He admitted slowly.

"Did they seem like nice people?" He father asked a little to quickly. "Like, friend material?"

Tweek thought back to his brief meeting with Clyde and Token.

"Ah!- They're ok, I guess." He said cautiously.

"Just ok?" That was his mother.

"Ngn." Tweek didn't answer. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, when only the soft bubbling of his mother's stew and the gentle _snick! click! _sound of carrot chopping could be heard, his father sighed and went back to reading his book.

"You'll make friends soon, dear. Don't worry."

Tweek couldn't help but think that he wasn't the one worrying.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Room**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date: 10/14/07**

He wasn't looking forward to actually _sleeping_ in that house. If anything, as soon as the sun had gone down, it had gotten _colder_. And it wasn't the same kind of thirty-or-less degrees cold that constantly plagued the town, either.

No, the house was warm enough, (or at least the first two floors were) but it hadn't shaken that _chill_. It was the kind that snuck under your skin and leaked into your bones. It was almost..._lonely._

Tweek downed at least four cups of coffee before his parents sent him off to bed with a direct order to sleep after such a hard day of travel.

Tweek bit his tongue and did as he was told, refraining from commenting on the vast differences between what his parents called a 'hard day of travel' and what the pilgrims or pioneers called 'a hard day's travel.'

He paused on the landing just outside his "room." The hair on the back of his neck was prickling, and he _really _didn't want to go in there alone. But he had too, because if his parents came up and saw him just standing there, they would want to know why.

He thought back to how happy his parents had been that afternoon, and , indeed, the entire week leading up to the trip up to South Park. They had spoken so animatedly about the place that even Paranoid Tweek, normally content with the mundane, non-dangerous, and normal, had been just a little excited. Did he really want to ruin all of that, just because he was a little more on edge than usual?

No, no he didn't.

He reached for the knob, but hesitated. The chills were crawling up and down his spine, as if his very skin was trying to slither it's self right off his body.

It felt like he was being stared at.

Tweek did not like to be stared at.

What's more, he hadn't even heard someone come up after him.

He hated being snuck up on even less.

He glanced over his shoulder to the stairs, expecting to see his mother there, telling him to get a move on and get in bed, his father coming up forma similar reason or something completely unrelated, or, in a worst case scenario, the underpants gnomes (which he had desperately hoped to leave behind in Denver, though he suspected that he would never truly be rid of the sneaky little thieves)

Instead he was met with an empty hallway.

Swallowing nervously, he glanced around. No one, not even paintings or pictures of people, though he could see discolored squares on other walls where some obviously had been.

"I m-must be -mphg- being paranoid again…." he whispered squeakily to himself. He turned and gripped his door knob resolutely, determined to stop stalling and freaking himself out and just get to bed.

A sudden, cold gust of air whisking across the back of his neck sent him scrammbling through the door with a shrill, paniced shreik.

Soft, mocking laughter echoed slightly in the hall behind him for a moment before all became silent once again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Sleep**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date: 10/15/07**

Tweek wasn't one for sleep. In fact, he general didn't sleep unless he absolutely had to. To much nervous energy, to much paranoia. He saw things go on at night that other people missed completely. Sometimes, Tweek wasn't really sure this was a good thing. (though, on the flip side, the late nights meant that he was hardly ever behind on his homework.)

(When he could keep his mind on the stuff, that is.)

So Tweek was, naturally, still wide awake as a grandfather clock somewhere within the deep bowls of the house chimed away the first hour of his second day in his families new 'summer' home.

He was seated on his bed, wrapped in the heavy silk blankets and sheets it had come equipped with. Upon entering his new room, he hadn't stopped for anything except to turn on the small desk lamp on the desk. He hadn't even bothered to kick off his dirt dusted shoes.

All in all, he reflected, there probably hadn't been anything in the hall with him, and the breeze had just been one of those old house drafts he read about in books. He had let his imagination run away with him again.

The problem was, his imagination hadn't stopped running yet, and every creak, every moan of the old house shifting and settling became some huge, Tweek eating monster waiting out in the hall for him to move from the protective safety of his bed so it could come crashing through the door and gobble him down alive. He would wait in the monsters stomach for someone, anyone, to rescue him while slowly and painfully being digested alive….

Tweek took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm himself down.

Two hours until it was time for the underpants gnomes to show up, if they were coming.

Six more hours before the sun came up.

Seven more hours before his parents got up, maybe more since they were on Vacation.

Tweek moaned and bit his nails until they bled.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter nine: Morning**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date: REVISED 11/1/07**

**A/N: I didn't like this chapter...the way it was...so i'm changing it...the other chapter will probably appear again...just later...probably much later.**

"Tweek?"

Tweek grumbled a bit and twitched, intending to knock away the hand gently shaking his shoulder. He was warm, if not a bit sticky feeling, and comfortable for the most part. He didn't want to be moved.

But the shaking persisted, as did the soft, cajoling voice.

"Tweek, sweetie, wake up."

"nuh?"

He finally cracked an eye open, closing it again quickly against the invasive gray light from his window. Squeezing the dry, itchy feeling out of his eyes, he slowly tried to open them again. He blinked blearily about. He had fallen asleep, much to his surprise. He didn't even remember closing his eyes.

It took him a minuet of slow blinking for his caffeine deprived, sleep fogged brain to realize that he wasn't in his room and he didn't recognize his surroundings.

"OH MY GOD! WE'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED!" He shrieked, leaping up and nearly falling to the floor as his shoe caught in the blankets. His mother saved him from a certain lump on the forehead, catching his arm before he could fall and righting him.

"Shhhh, Tweek, it's fine. We got here yesterday, remember?" She soothed. Tweek took a deep breath and held it as the memories came back.

"Y-yeah." He conceded finally, letting the breath out with a whoosh.

"Good." She gave him an odd once over. "Did you sleep in your clothes?"

Tweek looked down at himself and realized that he was indeed still in his clothes from the day before.

"Eh…yeah."

She gave him another odd look, but said nothing more on the subject, being used to his eccentricities by now.

"Well, breakfast is ready dear. We would have left you to sleep, but we know how you react to waking up in strange places…" she left it at that, bustling across the room as she spoke and tugging the heavy, dusty drapes on the window the rest of the way open. Gray, snow reflected light filtered in the grimy glass and reflected harshly off of the dust moats floating through the air like diamonds turned into a fine powder.

"Get changed and come down for some coffee."

As his mother left the room, Tweek considered telling her what he had felt out in the hall the night before, but, in the pale light of morning, it all suddenly seemed very silly, even for Tweek.

Scared of a breeze. What next?

The gnomes were probably laughing their tiny asses off at him at that very moment.

So he said nothing, tugging off his clothes as the door closed behind her and searching the larger of his suitcases for something clean to wear.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Windows**

Author: AYAotD 

**Date: 11/1/07**

Tweek set his house keys down carefully on the chair in the hallway before bending to tie his shoe. He was sure he was going crazy; all that week he had been losing things. Nothing large, of course, and they never stayed lost for long. Just long enough for Tweek to have a small nervous breakdown over it. Pencils turned up in rooms he had never been in before, coffee mugs moved across the kitchen. Several pairs of socks had even turned up on one of the mantels once!

His parents attributed the shifting objects with Tweek adjusting to a new place and simply misplacing things and forgetting about them.

Tweek didn't know what the hell to think, and not knowing defiantly didn't help. He now kept a close watch on any small object he set down for even a moment, almost never taking his eyes off of them at all, lest they move while he was not looking. This had led to several trips, some upturned chairs, many broken coffee mugs, some spilled creamer, a couple of dropped pictures and, most recently, a broken CD player, which was the reasoning behind his up coming trip out into town.

The keys were still there, even after he was finally forced to look down at his foot to undo the knot he had somehow tied around his finger with the laces. Tweek heaved a sigh of relief and grabbed them, pocketing them and heading out the door, making sure to lock up after himself. He was still a city boy, and old habits dies hard, he supposed.

And anyway, you could never be to careful. There could be mountain bandits out in the woods somewhere, and their house, no matter how creepy, would make a wonderful hideout.

In fact, he was sure the creepiness factor made it even better, just for that.

He had been in the little town many times over the past week; he had a good portion of it memorized by now. Or at lease, he had the stored in the center memorized. He didn't know where anyone lived, of course, because he didn't know anyone. His parents had spent all week fixing up the inside of the house, dusting and repairing a thing here or there, but mostly rearranging furniture and wall ornaments. Tweek wasn't sure why they were putting so much effort into it, since they would only be there for two months, but he supposed if it made them happy….

Anyway, they had finally decided to go down to the town and do some shopping. His mother wanted to re-paint one of the rooms and his father was supposed to be hanging some more pictures. Tweek was the last out of the house. He hadn't been able to stand another moment alone in the place; the usual cold, prickling feeling he got down his spine intensified at least ten times the usual when he was by himself. He hated it.

He shivered again and pulled his coat closer to his shoulders, cutting across the lawn and through some hedges instead of going down the drive. This way was quicker and he kind of liked the way the snow sounded crunching under foot.

Plus, this way, he was out of view of the house's windows.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven:**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date:**

"You know, I heard someone bought the old Mephesto Manor…"

"You don't say? Who in their right minds would do that?"

"I'm not sure…I only know because I saw the car…I think it's a whole family…"

"With a child?"

"I don't really know…"

"Oh dear, I hope not….what with what's been happening the last few years…"

"Shhh, oh I'm sure that's just a silly rumor…"

"no no! My cousin's wife's brother's boy-"

"But we're in the mountains! He could have just gotten himself lost…"

"No! That boy had been sneaking around with the McCormick kids! They were always trying to find ways to get into that place! Poor Dr. Mephesto was always chasing them off. I shudder to think what would have happened to them had his _wife_ gotten a hold of them first…but then the poor man went and died, God rest his soul…"

Tweek shifted from one foot to the other. He respected that the coffee shop was busy, but he wished the servers would hurry a little faster; he didn't know where the Mephesto manor was, but he had a pretty good guess, and he really, _really_ didn't want to be proven right.

He fingered the Ipod Mini in his pocket. CD players were outdated, for the most part and he was glad that he had broken his now. The one he had found had been surprisingly inexpensive, and he had managed to get a hold of his mother on the phone and garner her permission to buy it. Now all he had to do was put some music on it.

He kind of wished he had some on it now, so he could pop the little buds into his ears and tune out everything else.

Of course, that would mean he might miss his order when it was called, but-

"…despite being a bit odd, he really was a sweet man…." The conversation behind him floated back and he groaned softly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve:**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date:**

**A/N: I totally forgot to mention that you all have Madot to thank for these updates ******** they got me writing again! Thank you, Madot!**

Tweek's footsteps hesitated halfway across the lawn. He could clearly see the driveway from where he was standing and the lack of car made it quite clear that his parents still weren't home.

Damn. He didn't really want to be home alone….maybe he could-

A chill wind hit him right in the face, blowing away with it any desire to stay outside for an extended period of time. Inside was warmth and, most importantly, a way to make a pot of coffee….not just a cup….a _pot_. A _free_ pot at that. Even though his family owned the only Coffee shop in town, the people who worked there didn't know that, and Tweek wasn't about to call any unnecessary attention to himself by mentioning it. The cost of the (admittedly overpriced) beverage, however, was starting to wear on his pocket cash. He'd have to limit himself to home-brew for a few days, he reluctantly decided.

It took a little more effort that usual to close the door against the howling winds. The warmth achieved, however, was more than worth it. Tweek sighed in contentment as he pulled off his scarf, hanging it where he _thought_ the coat rack was.

But of course, the coat rack wasn't there.

Tweek stared at the curl of cloth laying innocently by his feet. He could have _sworn_-

He looked around, eye twitching. Now large things were moving on their own! This was just great! He had a hard enough time keeping track of the small things! Next he was going to wake up one morning and find his whole bed in a completely different room, or something! Or even worse, what if he woke up and he wasn't in his house at all, but somewhere in the woods and he couldn't' find his way out and he got lost and-

Tweek realized belatedly that he was starting to hyperventilate. Putting a hand to his chest, he forced himself to take deep, calming breaths like his therapist had told him to. To much open space; Tweek was used to the twisted clutter of the city, where there was always a landmark to lead him home-here, every-freaking-thing looked exactly alike. He would be soooooooo glad when this vacation phase of his parents' was over and they could go back to their normal lives in the city.

Bending down to pick the scarf up, he spied the coat rack out of the corner of his eye, standing innocently and unmoving in the corner opposite of where he was positive it had been when he had left. Maybe his parents had come home for something and spontaneously moved it before leaving again?

Whatever. He moved the heavy wooden post back to it's 'proper' place, hung his scarf on it and headed for the kitchen.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen:**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date:**

Tweek was tired and very, _very_ bored. It had been two and a half weeks since his move to what he had found was indeed Mephesto Manor, named after the late Doctor Alphonse Mephesto and his wife. (He had asked his mom about the name. It had been bothering him ever since that day in the coffee shop.) Both had died, him before her, and it had been through Lady Mephesto that the Tweek family, very, very, _very_ distant relations thought hey were, had inherited the house.

His mother was still excited about it. Tweek still was very much not.

But it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter. The most he could do was take up a calendar and mark down the days until the one thing he never thought he would ever look forward to in his entire life;

School.

At the moment he was laying draped despondently over the couch, twitching sporadically from time to time. A fresh cup of coffee rested innocently on the table beside his head.

"Tweek dear!" His mother came down the stairs, dressed in a modest suit-like outfit. She was putting on earrings as she went, like the stairs weren't dangerous enough without trying to put sharp pieces of metal through a small hole in one's ear.

"Ah! Yeah mom?" Tweek started a bit, almost banging his head on the sharp wooden corner protruding inches next to him.

"The manager at the local Tweek Bro.s found out we were in town and asked us if we wanted to come by the shop and meet the employees. Do you want to come along?" Tweek frowned, thinking of all the people that would be staring at him if he did.

"No. Nm."

"Are you sure dear? There'll be lots of coffee there. You won't have to make it yourself."

Ah, tempting….oh so tempting….never was there such a sweeter sin than indulgence…

She was trying to trick him into this. She _always_ tried to trick him into these things. Then he ended up in some uncomfortable clothes, going around, having people smile at him and try to shake his hands (the germs! Holy shit dude!) and-

"No thanks…"

-he had lots of instant coffee stored away for occasions such as this.

The only thing that really bothered him about his refusal, besides the fact that he would once again be alone in that stupid mansion was his mother's disappointed look as she left the room.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date:**

**A/N: If anyone catched the Cinderella reference, they're awesome ******

Tweek had finally given into the over whelming combination of boredom and the utter unease he had become so accustomed to in that…._house, _ and just left. He didn't know where he was going to go since he obviously couldn't go into town with his _parents_ there. He just had to _go._

In the end, he found himself facing the woods. Now that he was close to them, they didn't really look that much like woods. More like…well, a cluster of trees, which would therefore qualify it as woods, but they didn't seem as thick as they had from the house. Maybe if he went in just a _little bit_ it wouldn't hurt. He would still be able to see the house from there….right? Like his mother had said? He was feeling a little adventurous today any way, which really only happened once in a blue moon. Why not enjoy it a little?

Of course, thinking these things and actually _stepping _into the woods was a completely different matter. If there was one thing Tweek had no experience with what-so-ever, it was woods. He had, however, heard that wild animals ate people in them, though. Discovery channel had taught him that. Bears ripped hikers from their tents and ate them. Mountain lions mauled them for fun. Birds…. pecked their eyes out….or something….

Maybe, Tweek thought, he _didn't_ want to explore the woods. Not today, anyway.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter: Fifteen**

**Author: AYAotD**

**Date: 3/14/08**

**A/N: I'm not really nuts about this chapter, but I have no better ideas. If I come up with one later, I'll scrap this chapter….it just seems to forced to me….******

How he had been roped into helping his mother clean the basement was completely beyond him. She had that ability when looking for willing house slaves-er-_helpers_; She would find you when you looked your least active, say something to the lines of "Well, since you have nothing else to do, you can help me-" insert whatever she was about to do, and she would say it in such a sweet, hopeful tone of voice, like her very happiness in life depended on whether or not you said yes, that that was all you _could_ say.

And so of course, Tweek had said yes. He should have been immune to that sort of trick by now, damnit!

Now, here he was amidst the torrent of flying dust, arms loaded down heavily with various cleaning products. He was very glad he had covered his nose and mouth with a handkerchief and his hands and arms with those tough rubber gloves his mother used for heavy duty cleaning.

But….what of his eyes?

He had heard once of this guy who got something that he thought was dust in his eye, but then it had begun to hurt, and then it swelled up and when he went to the doctor, they had had to surgically remove this huge _worm_ from the inside of his eye and it had been eating his eyelid and-

"I don't think I've ever been in this room. Tweek dear, can you hand me the keys please?"

"Gah!" Tweek scrambled to grab and hold on to the cleaning products bunched together in his arms, even as the rubber gloves he wore twisted and made them slip even more. His mother deftly caught the furniture polish on its way down.

Tweek managed to fish the large, jangling key ring out of the pocket of the dust coated apron he was wearing and hand it off to her with out dropping anything else.

"Now," his mother murmured to herself. "Which key is it?" She picked one at random and tried it. It didn't work and she moved it off to the other side of the ring and selected the next key to try.

As she lifted it to the lock, Tweek, who had been watching with disinterest, felt a very sudden, very cold chill go up his spine. It wasn't the good kind of chill either, if there's even such a thing. No, this was the kind of chill you get when someone runs his or her fingernail very lightly down your spine. Or a spider runs across your skin, or-

_"No…"_ the word was quiet, almost nonexistent, breathy and _right next to his freaking ear!"_

Tweek screeched in panic, lurching forward. The cleaning products slipped form his fingers, crashing to the floor and scattering. Luckily none of the containers broke, but Tweek's foot did end up catching one and he went down like a sack of really heavy things. His forehead met the concrete with a painfully loud smack.

For once in his life, Tweek lay completely still. Little black dots danced in front of his eyes and pain shot through his forehead and for a moment it was all that took up his brain. He didn't shake; he didn't breath (breathing right now, he thought, would probably be painful too.) He just waited for the first intense wave of pain to pass, and in a second that felt like a minuet, it faded enough for him to let out a shaky breath. Around the adrenalin-oriented buzzing in his ear, he became aware of his mother saying his name over and over again.

"Tweek? Tweek, honey? Are you all right? Tweek?" Tweek groaned. "Oh good, come on, sit up. You're going to have quite the bump on your head…"

Stars were still dancing in front of Tweek's eyes as he sat slowly and rubbed at the developing goose egg on his forehead.

"Ouch….." His mother tilted his head a bit to look at the spreading red mark.

"Wait here while I go and get some ice for that, ok Tweek?" Tweek nodded dumbly, his brain still trying to really process what had happened.

_"Oops…."_


	16. Chapter 16

Tweek gently fingered the gauze taped to his forehead, running his fingers lightly around the edges to make sure the sticky strips hadn't caught up some of his hair. At least, he though, it wasn't bleeding anymore. If it had continued, there was no telling what could have happened! He could have bled to death! He didn't want to die in that small backwater town! He didn't trust the embalmers, for one thing. For all he knew, they could mix up the embalming fluid with Worcestershire steak sauce; He had read on the label that that stuff wasn't supposed to be used for such things, since it carried a risk of turning you into a zombie….though, Tweek wasn't really sure he believed that. He had the feeling it was more of a sales gimmick or the label company trying to have a sense of humor…not that he was going to take any chances, of course.

Anyway, the bleeding had stopped, and even though his parents--his poor, naive parents--had insisted that it was fine, just a scrape and a bit of a nasty bump, he still wasn't convinced he didn't need a trip to the emergency room. His brain could very well be hemorrhaging slowly at that very moment and they wouldn't know it until he suddenly dropped dead, most likely after complaining of mysterious headaches or something. He was just waiting for that time to come. Maybe he should take himself to the emergency room? Then again…they had pointy things there. Not that he hadn't been to doctors' offices before; actually, he had been to so many he could almost recite the basic layouts of every hospital within an hour's driving distance of his house. But sick people went there too…and if he ended up with both brain hemorrhaging _and_ scarlet fever….and he had heard that staff had been going around in hospitals lately….but if he died anyway…. 

Tweek sighed. He could feel that headache already. It was only a matter of time now. 

"Tweek, sweetie?" His mother asked, stopping short in the doorway on her way to the kitchen. "Why are you staring at that coffee mug?" Tweek glanced forlornly up at her from his seat at the edge of the soft burgundy couch, hunched over the coffee table and the powder blue "_Coffee is God"_ mug. 

"It moved." He said, monotone. "I saw it. Or I think I saw it. I'm not sure anymore. I _told_ you I needed to have an X-ray of my head done or something! I'm hallucinating." 

His mother shook her had sadly as she continued on her way, wondering if perhaps Tweek wasn't taking his medicine again. Poor boy. That ADD couldn't be an easy thing to live with.


End file.
